The W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls rugby team has got a small reprieve from the icy grip of Old Man Winter that does not seem to want to let go, by making its way to Victoria this Easter break for some exhibition matches.

“It’s been real tough, for no other reason than finding adequate drills for 30-plus girls in the gym,” said Chris Komery, head coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls rugby team, as the junior varsity and varsity teams have been able to do minimal outside training in the pre-season. “It’s really challenging.”

The team hopped on a plane to Victoria on Monday with a mere two practices outside in the snow in preparation for its Victoria tour in which W.R. Myers will play two high schools there.

“It is challenging. Words can’t really describe. Finally getting the girls outside was more to getting them back accustomed to working in space because we’ve been in a gym for three months,” said Komery. “We are very limited in what we can do in a gym, especially when it comes to contact and that is key with the emphasis on tackling and scrimmaging, you can’t do that with any efficiency in a gym.”

The two Victoria squads that Myers will be playing will have had a benefit of better weather overall to train in, although rain has been forecasted in the area from Tuesday all the way to Sunday.

“Victoria, Vancouver, that’s the ideal weather for 12-months-a-year training. That is where Rugby Canada has one of its training facilities and we are going to spend a day there,” said Komery.

The Rebels will be keeping things as simple as possible in making its way through the two matches, with one of them today.

“We will be making changes to strategies on the fly because we will have had basically three days to decide exactly what kind of squad that we have,” said Komery.

When the team returns, they are tentatively scheduled to play on April 12 against Winston Churchill on the road.

“All the teams are facing snow on the field, so they are thinking of re-amending the schedule. I’m sure it’s going to change,” said Komery.

The team’s home opener is tentatively scheduled against Raymond on April 18 with varsity at 5:30 p.m. and junior varsity at 6:45 p.m.